Posted: March 23rd, 2023

Developing a Culture of Evidence-Based Practice

Various reasons may explain the failure of effective implementation of evidence-based practice. One of the factors includes ineffective dissemination of research results and recommendations. It is not enough for researchers to conduct clinical trials and studies. They should ensure that their findings are effectively disseminated to be useful in practice. Although various approaches are available, a researcher should determine the most appropriate strategy to disseminate evidence-based practice to practitioners and other policy-makers for decision-making and implementation.

The Most Useful Strategies

The most effective method to disseminate evidence-based practice to the audience for practice and research is through publication in peer-reviewed journals. Such publications undergo peer review to ascertain the credibility of the evidence included in a research article (Eccles, Grimshaw, & Foy, 2018). Many practitioners and researchers examine peer-reviewed journals to locate evidence to use in their practice. Therefore, the strategy is the most useful for the current evidence-based study. Unit-level or organizational-level presentations is another useful strategy to disseminate evidence-based practice. The approach entails presenting findings to a particular unit or the entire organization for effective implementation. It is an active strategy that encompasses communicating the results to a specific implementing entity or organization.

Least Useful Strategies

Poster and podium presentations are the least useful methods of disseminating evidence-based practice. Poster arrangements are passive dissemination methods because the researcher does not actively engage the audience. Instead, the process assumes that the target audience will read and understand the information (Williams & Cullen, 2016). Podium presentations are effective in disseminating knowledge, but they lack the direct appeal to the audience. However, the two methods might still be used in communicating the findings from research.

Barriers to Implementation

Various barriers might affect the use of the selected strategies to disseminate evidence-based practice. One of the obstacles entails the cost of implementation because of the resources necessary to communicate the findings. For example, disseminating evidence through peer-reviewed journals involve a considerable cost to develop a manuscript worth printing. Dissemination through presentations requires the resources of creating presentations, such as computer and other equipment. Another barrier may include a lack of basic knowledge and skills necessary to assimilate EBP into practice settings (Melnyk, 2016). Besides, other work-related challenges such as burnout can undermine the interest in new working techniques.

Strategies to Overcome Barriers

To overcome the cost barrier, it is necessary to have adequate organizational support and funding to conduct the clinical trial and disseminate knowledge. It is necessary to design a substantial research framework that can convince potential barriers, such as research organizations (Melnyk, 2016). Another approach that can overcome such barriers is to ensure that the findings and recommendations match the work culture of the target practitioners to guarantee that they accept them as an important addition to their work.

Conclusion

As it is evident from the discussion, researchers should ensure that they communicate their findings and recommendations to their target audience for effective implementation and to enhance the usability of their research efforts. Therefore, they should select the most useful method to communicate their evidence-based practice to the target audience. Since they have a variety of alternatives to choose from, they should use the most effective approach based on the nature of their studies and the target audience. Some methods are highly effective such as publication in a peer-reviewed journal because of the diverse audience, including scholars.